House panel OKs ban on edible pot

Lundstrum: Marijuana ‘not a convenience store’

A bill to ban manufactured edible medical marijuana products was approved by the House Rules Committee on Wednesday.

House Bill 1392, by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, passed without dissent in a voice vote. Lundstrum said the measure is aimed at preventing unwitting children from being exposed to the drug.

“We are only banning the sale of cookies with marijuana in it or brownies with marijuana in it,” she said. “It is not a convenience store. It is a medicine.”

Another of Lundstrum’s bills, House Bill 1391, failed to pass. That bill would have allowed city and county governments to place a referendum on the ballot for voters to ban medical marijuana facilities, such as dispensaries and growing operations.

The voter-approved Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment allows for edible products and for cities

and counties to outlaw marijuana dispensaries and cultivation facilities with a vote initiated by the people.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson supported HB1392 because medical marijuana shouldn’t be marketed as food or toward children, said J.R. Davis, his spokesman.

But Melissa Fults, executive director of the Drug Policy Education Group and a supporter of medical marijuana, said edible products release marijuana compounds at a slower rate.

The bill allows medical marijuana users and caregivers to make marijuana foods at home, but Fults said sick people don’t need additional work and may not be able to make foods at a consistent marijuana dosage.

David Couch, the sponsor of what is now Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution, said on Twitter later: “I guess they want everyone to smoke it? I wish before they proposed a law they would do some research.”

Alcohol Beverage Control draft rules prevent dispensaries from manufacturing any edible that “by its shape or design is likely to appeal to minors.”

The bill heads to the House for further consideration. It needs a two-thirds vote in both chambers before it can become law.

Lundstrum’s HB1391 was supported by Jerry Cox, executive director of the Arkansas Family Council.

“It’s important, I think, that we create some mechanisms for these local communities to have greater local control,” he said. “Otherwise, this is going to be pretty much outside of their control.”

Rep. Douglas House, R-North Little Rock, opposed the bill. He said local governments would threaten to close established facilities based on their own agendas.

A third bill by Lundstrum, House Bill 1400, received support from both House and Fults and was approved by the committee.

It bans medical marijuana smoking where cigarette smoke is outlawed and in cars. It prohibits patients under 21 years old from smoking marijuana. It also outlaws medical marijuana smoking in the presence of a child under 14 years old or a pregnant woman.

HB1400 originally banned all marijuana smoking. Members of the House Rules committee requested the changes. Hutchinson also said he does not support a medical marijuana smoking ban.

Meanwhile, a marijuana-related bill sponsored by House and Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, failed to clear a Senate committee on Wednesday.

House Bill 1371 would require 60 percent of the ownership interest in dispensaries and cultivation facilities to be held by Arkansans.

After being approved by the House, the bill cleared the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee last month, but was then referred back to the committee from the Senate.

Irvin said she and House considered an amendment that was suggested for the bill but don’t support it.

The bill failed in the committee on Wednesday in a voice vote. At Irvin’s request, the committee then expunged that vote, allowing the bill to be presented at least two more times for approval.

“It’s important, I think, that we create some mechanisms for these local communities to have greater local control. Otherwise, this is going to be pretty much outside of their control.”

— Jerry Cox, executive director of the Arkansas Family Council